The present invention relates in general to the field of micro-mechanics, especially to the field of micro-actuators, and particularly but not exclusively to micro-actuators used for the fine positioning of reading/writing heads in hard-disk reading/writing units. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of producing suspended elements for electrical connection between two portions of a micro-mechanism that can move relative to one another, for example, for electrically connecting the reading/writing head, which is fixed to the rotor of the micro-actuator, to the static portion of the micro-actuator.
A known hard-disk reading/writing unit, comprises a support body (called xe2x80x9cE-blockxe2x80x9d) rotated by an electric motor and having a plurality of arms, each carrying a suspension element formed by a cantilevered plate the free end of which carries, by means of a coupling (xe2x80x9cgimbalxe2x80x9d), a reading/writing transducer (head or xe2x80x9csliderxe2x80x9d) which faces a surface of the hard disk. The slider may be coupled to the gimbal with the interposition of a micro-actuator produced by micro-processing of a semiconductor wafer.
These reading/writing units enable the density of tracks on the hard disk to be increased by permitting a first positioning by the motor acting on the support body and a fine positioning by the action of the micro-actuator on the slider.
However, a problem arises in fixing the slider to the rotor of the micro-actuator and in electrically connecting the electrical terminals of the slider (of which there are at least four, two for reading and two for writing) without giving rise to interference with the movement of the slider.
In view of the foregoing, the disclosed embodiments of the present invention provide a method of producing suspended elements for electrical connection between two portions of a micro-mechanism that can move relative to one another.
According to the embodiments of the present invention, a method of producing suspended elements for electrical connection between two portions of a micro-mechanism that can move relative to one another provides for the formation of a layer of sacrificial material, the formation of the electrical connection elements on the layer of sacrificial material, and the removal of the layer of sacrificial material beneath the electrical connection elements. The layer of sacrificial material is a thin film with at least one adhesive side that can be applied dry to the surface of the micro-mechanism.